Ministry of Environment, Water & Natural Resources

Mr. John Barasa Wangwe: CECM Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

The ministry is concerned with preservation of biodiversity and improving access to water and electricity by residents of Kakamega County. Part of the work that we are doing entails striving to increase the forest cover to at least 10 percent of arable land, preventing  illegal logging, maintaining cleanliness in the urban centers and ensuring sustainability through sanitation services.

To protect our forests, more volunteer scouts are needed and an incentive to make them available 24/ 7. Working closely with Community forest associations and the Kenya forest service to prevent poaching.

Tree seedlings will also be given to individuals to plant the same in their own farms. Sh. 50 million has been allocated in this year’s budget for Afforestation.

Increasing the people’s access to piped water is also top among my priority as the person in charge of this docket. Development partners like World Vision have come to work with us by digging wells and purchasing storage tanks for distribution of clean water in homes.

The Carbon Credits trade is a booming enterprise in the international market and we, as a county, will exploit it.

Kakamega County is faced with major challenges and among them is garbage disposal. The county will invest in an incinerator and establish dumpsites at suitable locations. Currently, there is only one incinerator at Kakamega Provincial General Hospital but it is no longer in service.

Dumpsites like the one at Roster man pose a threat to the health of residents since it is located next to a river. The risk of contaminating the water is real including the underground water.

Residents can earn a living from the garbage by processing it into fuel by Bricketing. Plastics and polythene bags can also be recycled.

There are endangered species of flora and fauna in Kakamega County. Case in point is the Kaimosi Agama Lizard, which is almost becoming extinct. The apes in Malava Forest too are endangered and something must be done to protect them.